The Internet is a worldwide decentralized network of computers having the ability to communicate with each other. The Internet has gained broad recognition as a viable medium for communicating and interacting across multiple networks. The World-Wide Web (Web) was created in the early 1990's and is comprised of server-hosting computers (Web servers) connected to the Internet that have hypertext documents or Web pages stored therewithin. Web pages are accessible by client programs (i.e., Web browsers) utilizing the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) via a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) connection between a client-hosting device and a server-hosting device. While HTTP and hypertext documents are the prevalent forms for the Web, the Web itself refers to a wide range of protocols including Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTPS), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), and Gopher, and content formats including plain text, Extensible Markup Language (XML), as well as image formats such as Graphics Interchange Format (GIF) and Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG).
Specific to the Web, a Web server is a computer program (housed in a computer) that serves requested Web pages and files. A Web client is a requesting program associated with a user. A Web browser is an exemplary Web client for use in requesting Web pages and files from Web servers.
A Web site is conventionally a collection of Web pages and files related to a particular subject that includes a beginning file called a home page. A large Web site may reside on a number of geographically-dispersed Web servers. The Web site of the International Business Machines Corporation (www.ibm.com), for example, consists of thousands of Web pages and files spread out over various Web servers in locations world-wide.
As is known to those skilled in this art, a Web page is conventionally formatted via a standard page description language such as HyperText Markup Language (HTML), which typically contains text, and can reference graphics, sound, animation, and video data. HTML provides for basic document formatting and allows a Web content provider to specify anchors or hypertext links (typically manifested as highlighted text) to other Web servers and files. When a user selects a particular hypertext link, a Web browser reads and interprets an address, called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) associated with the link, connects the Web browser with a Web server at that address, and makes an HTTP request for the file identified in the link. The Web server then sends the requested file to the Web client which the Web browser interprets and displays to the user.
Exemplary Web browsers include Netscape Navigator.RTM. (Netscape Communications Corporation, Mountain View, CA) and Internet Explorer.RTM. (Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA). Web browsers typically provide a graphical user interface for retrieving and viewing information, applications, and other resources hosted by Web servers.
As the Web has evolved into a viable commercial medium, advertising has become an important source of revenue for many commercial Web sites. Web pages served from commercial Web sites often utilize advertising to promote various goods and services. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary Web page 10 containing various content objects 11, including a "banner" advertising object 12. To be effective, Web advertising is preferably targeted to the types of users likely to request a particular Web page in which the advertising is provided. In addition, advertising may be placed within a requested Web page based upon the identity of a user requesting the Web page.
With the increasing mobility of today's society, the demand for mobile computing capabilities has also increased. Many workers and professionals are downsizing their laptop computers to smaller palm-top or hand-held devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs). In addition, many people now utilize computing devices, such as cellular telephones, within their automobiles to access the Internet and to perform various other computing functions. Hand-held computing devices including, but not limited to, PDAs and cellular telephones are often collectively referred to as "pervasive" computing devices. Many hand-held computing devices utilize the Microsoft.RTM. Windows CE and 3Com Palm Computing.RTM. platforms.
Accordingly, there is a need to enhance the efficacy of advertising to users accessing the Web via mobile Web clients.